Printing on Uncoated Cartridge paper - ix6550

MissM

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Hello!
I have been battling for months to get good prints on uncoated stock.
On photo paper my canon ix6550 produces beautiful prints but when I print on cartridge paper I get speckling - almost like its not getting good coverage.
I suspect there is nothing I can do, but any ideas as to why this is happening would be gratefully received.
 

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PeterBJ

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It looks to me like only the dark areas in the image are affected. When printing plain paper your printer uses pigment black plus cyan, magenta and yellow dye inks. Pigment black ink is better for plain paper documents than dye black ink, as it as it produces sharper and more waterproof print. Pigment black ink is totally unsuitable for printing on photo paper. Instead a dye black is used when printing on photo paper.

So which media type do you choose when printing on the cartridge paper? If you have chosen plain paper, changing the media type to photo paper might produce much better results. Probably matte photo paper will be the best setting, but you could try out all the media settings.
 

MissM

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Thanks for the reply.
So, when I print on cartridge paper I use the 'plain paper' setting, I should say that when I print on bog standard plain 80gsm printer paper the dark block colours are less 'speckly' and I'm guessing this is because the paper is smoother.
I've just tried with the matte photo paper setting and get the same results.
As you said it is only the dark colours which are affected.
 

The Hat

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OK let’s start again, these white spots are not supposed to be in the black area, am I correct ?

Now your cartridge paper should be a lot smoother than the plain paper is in fact like matte paper surface, so using the plain paper setting would be correct with either standard or high quality settings.

The only think I can think of is that your black Pigment cartridge is not outputting enough ink (Ink Starvation) as it should be, so could you please print the test print from this thread (Below)to check your ink flow, use plain paper and normal settings and check the results.
http://www.printerknowledge.com/threads/ink-starvation-test.8718/
 

MissM

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Ok, here is a scan of the test I just printed.
 

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palombian

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At the time Canon had the MX7600 and IX7000 with pigment ink and a special cartridge to apply a smooth and non-bleeding coating on plain paper.
Even then the dark parts can wobble from too much ink, it does not replace photo paper, but for text with coloured parts it is the best I've seen from inkjet printers and close to a laser.
I still use this printer (and even bought a second for backup).

Canon abandoned this technique.

Lower weight matte photo paper is the remaining alternative (you can buy it double-sided).
 

MissM

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I can't see anything major, some slight speckling on all colours at 70-100% but nothing like what I get on the cartridge paper.
 

MissM

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The obvious answer is to print on different stock, but I particularly like this paper.
 

Emulator

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It almost looks as if the paper surface has an aversion to the ink, as though splashes of oil or varnish had been applied to the paper.
 

MissM

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Here is a scan of the print on cartridge paper. Plain paper high quality settings.
 
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